After refusing to submit to the demands of the skeptical Jewish leaders and rebuking them for their evil and hardened hearts, Jesus declares to His disciples what His messianic mission will entail and begins His journey to Jerusalem.
All of them struggled to understand His teaching on the Kingdom. The thought about His death was grieving to them, but they soon forgot about it because it didn’t fit with their understanding of God’s plan for the Kingdom, the way of the cross, and the fruit of humility.
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him and placed the child among them.
3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”.
4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!
8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
10 See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven (Matthew 18:1-11).
This scripture passage speaks about the:
Call to Humility
Practice of Humility
Cost of Humility
1. The Call to Humility
Mark and Luke both record that while the disciples were walking on the road back to Jerusalem, they began arguing with each other about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
They were jockeying for a position of authority, they were more concerned with status and privilege in the earthly temporal kingdom, than in having future rewards in heaven. There was apparently some jealous rivalry amongst the disciples. It got so bad that James and John had their mother petition Jesus for a place at His left and right hand in His Kingdom just one week before He was going to be crucified (Matt 20).
They were so full of pride, that they were still fighting for a place of honor, status, and position right up to the night before Jesus was crucified.
Jesus knew what they were thinking and it was time to bring them down to earth and calling a child to himself he says:
3 I assure you and solemnly say to you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven –
unless you change your understanding and realize your sinfulness, unworthiness, inability to save yourself and your absolute dependence on God, His grace and mercy, you cannot and will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
What a contrasting image He is illustrating about greatness! He was not talking about just a subjective change of the heart, but an objective one seen in their decisions and actions.
What does it mean to be childlike?
We are not talking about childishness or naivety, rather being innocent and without guile. Having a simple trust, one who is humble and easily forgives. Children are not entangled with the pursuit of wealth, status, or power. They live with utmost dependency on their parents, they are weak and cannot defend themselves and must trust their parents to meet their needs.
4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Our Western ideas about children’s rights and privileges are not the same as the ancient Near East. Children in Jesus’ day lacked social status or rights of their own. They were wholly dependent on their parents. They were at the bottom of the social ladder.
Jesus said,
Whoever humbles him or herself like this child is the greatest
The word “humble” means - bring down one's pride, to have a modest opinion of one-self, to behave in an unassuming manner devoid of all haughtiness.
There is a path to greatness. But the path is down, not up.
When a person accepts Jesus as his/her Savior, this person gets the righteousness of Christ credited to their account. He or she has the Spirit of God dwelling inside of him/her and is completely accepted by God because of Jesus.
Jesus said in Matt 20:26 and Mark 10:43-44,
If you really want to become great, if you really want to have the greatest impact on many people then you must be the servant of all.
2. Practice of Humility
5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
True humility before God is revealed by the way we receive other believers not because they are great, wise, wealthy, or powerful in the world’s eyes, but because they have received the same message of the Gospel and because of who they are in God’s eyes.
We are to extend hospitality to fellow believers as though to an esteemed guest no matter what their rank. Welcoming one such child “in my name” indicates representing Jesus as host. When someone cares about a child like this in Jesus’ name, they are really welcoming Jesus, and the one who welcomes Jesus is really welcoming God, who sent him (v.37b).
True humility is also revealed when you consider the way your life affects other brothers and sisters in Christ.
“Jesus was saying that if you mistreat other believers, you are mistreating Me. ”
Causing the “little ones” to stumble (v.6), does not mean that the “little ones” are led into apostasy. Rather, it speaks about anything that would compromise the faith of another believer. It is our responsibility to lead people away from sin, from temptation, from false teaching in order to protect each other. We are to speak the truth in love, to encourage others to walk on paths that lead to life, to draw near and stay close to God, and the local church where we experience God’s presence and fullness.
3. The cost of Humility
Jesus is saying if you do not want your life to be the reason for others to stumble then don’t become comfortable with your sin. You need to deal with it, and sometimes with serious measures.
8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
The identification of sin with physical body parts - the hand, foot, and eye - is meant to encompass all areas of life. The hand signifies whatever one does, the foot wherever one goes, and the eye whatever one sees. Jesus is not actually telling us to cut our body parts off or gouge our eyes out in order to do away with sin in our lives but he is stressing the seriousness of the consequences of sinful activities associated with these parts of our bodies.
He is telling us,
“Remove yourself from the source of temptation.”
When a child chooses to live to please oneself, the eventual cost of sin will be too great and what is at stake is life - for some - eternal life so this does, at times, require radical spiritual surgery for areas of our lives.
Where do these sources of temptation take place?
It could be a young Christian going off to college or moving into a new work or living environment where there is no conviction of purity, no regular fellowship with other believers and developing friendships with people that have a very negative influence on them. This person can actually become the leader, the instigator of sin and not only causes other Christians to enter into temptation but his or her lifestyle keeps others from coming into the kingdom.
Jesus said:
If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? (Matt 16:25)
In the amplified version of v. 10, Jesus says,
See that you do not despise or think less of one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven [are in the presence of and] continually look upon the face of My Father who is in heaven. (Matt 18:10 AMP)
Just think about the fact that we have angels standing before the face of God, who along with God watch how we treat each other. He tells us not to look down on a child of God or view them with little value - we are not to be spiritually indifferent to or contemptuous toward the needs of any other believer but to look after each other.
As Christians, we are followers of Christ. Jesus is the Head of the church and as His people we are called to a life characterized by humility. To understand what it means to be truly great, Jesus is calling us as His followers to humility, to practice humility towards others, and to pay the price of humility because there is a great reward.
